It would be an understatement to say AlliedSignal expects a lot from its employees.

Employees are expected to grow their minds and skills as much as they’re expected to help the company grow and reach its financial goals.  It’s been that way since Bossidy took over in the early 1990s.

Currently, each employee is:
• expected to pass a first-level course in Six Sigma principles and projects by the end of 2000.
• expected to complete 40 hours of learning programs per year.  “From the CEO to hourly workers, each employee has a learning plan in place that spells out the courses they need to perform their jobs better,” says Donnee Ramelli, vice president of learning and organization development.
• encouraged to take personal and career development courses at the plant or at a nearby college or trade school.

(View "AlliedSignal: Six Sigma" for additional details.)

Some people wilt in such an environment.  Some quit.  Others bloom.

Jim Biggs is an example of an extreme bloomer.

For 19 years, Biggs worked in the maintenance department at AlliedSignal’s Engines division in Phoenix.  As an electronics technician, he retrofitted controls on production equipment, maintained computer and laser equipment, and programmed CNC controls.

While he was considered a technical ace, he always hungered to do more and learn more.  He whetted his appetite in AlliedSignal’s learning environment.

“I had a standard way of filling out requests for training,” says Biggs, MRO Today magazine’s MRO Pro for June/July 1999.  “If it was available, I wanted it.  I would go through the intranet postings for training classes and find those that applied to what I was doing.  I wanted to improve myself and my value to the company.”

Biggs took more than 25 training courses and also attended night classes put on by suppliers and distributors.

His hard work did not go unnoticed.

After receiving his greenbelt (first-level Six Sigma) certification, he was hand-picked to take blackbelt training in 1998.  After 160 rigorous hours of training and projects and a final review period, he achieved blackbelt status.

With the new title, Biggs’ job now involves targeting major projects, preparing high-level reports on those projects and providing instruction to greenbelt candidates.  (Yes, the student is now the teacher.)

“Being on the other side of the classroom is tough,” he says.  “I have the knowledge on the subject, but I have to work on my communication skills.  I’m getting comfortable the more that I do it.”

Sticking to his tried-and-true formula, Biggs plans to take some public-speaking classes this summer.